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With the prices of buying a house skyrocketing, many of us are tempted to building our own house. This is sometimes an excellent choice, but you will first need to understand the costs of building a house from scratch. As per a general estimate, the cost of self-build ranges between £300 per m2 to £3,000 per m2.

As you can see, this is quite a variation in price from lowest to highest. Location is a prime factor in determining the costs. Building a house in London and the South is more expensive compared to other regions. Aside from location, several other factors make up the price.

Self-manage with subcontractors

You hire professionals directly like builders and carpenters. You also buy all the materials yourself allowing you to get the best prices.

Hiring a main contractor with other subcontractors

You will first need a main contractor who will help to create the watertight structure for your house. For the rest of the work, try hiring out subcontractors. Make sure that you buy all the materials yourself to get the best price.

External cladding materials

If you are looking to install other external material other than brick, you will also need to factor in the cost for the same.

Here are some example prices:

• Render on blockwork costs around £25 per m²

• Timber cladding is around £25 per m²

• Hand¬made all-weather tiling costs around £54 per m²

• Rubble walling or flint is around £90 per m²

• Reconstituted stone costs about £48 per m²

• Natural stone is about £75 per m²

Make sure to include these costs when coming up with the estimate.

Roofing materials

Non-standard roofing materials tend to add more to the cost and therefore you will also need to account in for this factor.

Here are some examples:

Welsh slate – £60 per m²

Second-hand slates – £35 per m²

Handmade clay tiles – £65 per m²

Reed thatch – £80/m²

If you choose to add any unique material to your roofing, be sure that you remember to factor in its cost.

Patios are suitable for many gardens. If you do not have a flat area already, consider having some landscaping work done to create one. If your garden is on a very extreme slope, you could have a multi-layered (terraced) patio with steps between each layer. Ask for advice and get quotes if you're not sure.

Generally speaking, you do need an aerial if you have a smart TV. This what will enable you to watch live TV. However, if you’re not bothered about live TV, and just want to use services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Youtube, you don’t normally need a TV aerial. This is because these services use the internet instead.

If you’re about to get a new bath installed in your home or property, then its only wise to carry out a research to determine the cost to complete such a project. In order to help you make the best informed decision possible, we’ve created this post gives you the price range of the purchase as well as installation of a new bath. Let’s take a look!

There are a number of factors that can influence the total installation cost of a bath, however the main ones include the price of the bath and the installation cost. These two components are higher for steel baths, freestanding bath and whirlpool bath when compared to shower baths and corner baths. In general, it can take within the range of £390 to £5500 to purchase ans install a new bath. Depending on the type, below are the rice range for different type of baths:

• Shower bath. This is the most popular and costs within the range of £180 to £2,275 depending on the brand, material, warranty and other factors.
• Corner baths. These can cost anywhere within the range of £213 to £1,007.
• Steel baths. These can cost anywhere within the range of £287 to £3,360
• Freestanding bath. These can cost anywhere within the range of £489 to £4,315
• Whirlpool bath. These can cost anywhere within the range of £185 to £1,061

And while its possible to get a quick evaluation of the estimated costs when you’re planning to install a new bath, the end figure can vary. Most professional bath installer will charge anywhere between £110 to £500 depend on the type of the bath as well as how complex and intricate the task at hand is.

Working with a designer to plan your kitchen means you’ll get the best possible use out of the space and it maybe that wasted space can be put to good use. Designers can offer you lots of space saving solutions and innovative kitchen units, making your kitchen a truly functional area.

By replacing the single glazed windows in your home you stand to make savings of around £170 each year. It’s not just the financial gain that makes double glazing attractive though and you can also save up to 680kg of carbon emissions annually. Over 20 years this is a saving of around £3,400 and 13,600kg of CO2.

On the grand scale of things there isn’t a huge difference between B-rated windows and A-rated windows. Consumer watchdog Which? have calculated an extra 6.5% would be saved on energy bills with A rather than B rated panes. Be aware that A rated windows are slightly more expensive, however.

From gravel and crushed stones to asphalt and tarmac, the choice when it comes to surfacing options for driveways is truly staggering. However, what’s not too clear is the options that best suits a sloping driveway. If you also possess a sloping driveway and wondering the best material to install, you’re definitely not alone. This is a major source of concern for several home and property owners in the UK being fully aware that making the wrong choice here can prove really costly and disastrous. In order to help you make the best informed decision possible, we’ve put together this post which takes a look at the various driveway material options available to you.

• Gravel
  This driveway surfacing option provides a truly enjoyable “crunch sound when driven on, however, the satisfaction will be short lived if installed on a sloped driveway. If installed on a sloped driveway, there’s going to be a continual displacement as instinctively rolls downhill on an incline.

• Concrete
  This can prove to be a great problem if installed on an incline. This is due to the fact that concrete is subject to freeze/thaw phenomenon which makes it steep and slippery lacking the needed traction.

• Tarmac
  This is particularly far from ideal when it comes to a steep driveway surface. This is because it requires continuous maintenance to prevent spillages from spoiling the surface.

• Resin
  The best surface for a steep driveway is simply that made from resin. This is due to the fact that this surfacing option allows water to soak away naturally. They’re perfectly permeable, preventing water from pooling and reducing the risk of falls.